Heat Fall Short of ’71-’72 Lakers

LeBron James and the Heat went down after sustaining a 27-game winning streak with lots of close wins.

It’s fitting that the Miami Heat fell six games short of the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers’ 33-game winning streak. Miami has done well to win for as long as it has, without being as dominant as those Lakers were.

The Heat lost, 101-97, to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, ending their winning streak at 27 games, the second-longest streak in NBA history. The longest streak, those Lakers’ 33-game run, included just 10 games in which L.A. won by a single-digit margin, none smaller than four points. The Lakers’ average win was by 16 points. Miami, meanwhile, also had 10 wins by single digits in their shorter streaks, including wins by three, two and one point, respectively. The Heat’s average winning margin was 11.9 points per game.

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